Cid Corman Letters to Frank Samperi, 1972-1975

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Summary

Creators:
Corman, Cid
Abstract:
Cid Corman (1924-2004) poet, editor, and translator, was the founder of the poetry magazine Origin and the Origin Press. This collection contains 120 typescript letters to the poet Frank Samperi written by Corman, from 1972 to 1975, while Corman was in Japan. The letters discuss poetry journals and presses as well as the demands of writing and editing for publication, and specific works of Corman's, among other subjects.
Extent:
120 letters; 0.2 linear feet
Language:
Collection materials in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Cid Corman Letters to Frank Samperi, MC013, Department of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains 120 typescript letters to Frank Samperi written by Cid Corman, from 1972 to 1975, while Corman was in Japan.

The letters discuss poetry journals and presses as well as the demands of writing and editing for publication. Also described are Corman's philosophy, support for Samperi, comments upon the works both were reading at the time, and upon current events, such as Nixon and the Vietnam War. Specific works of Corman's are also mentioned including his essay, Prefiguration, and The Gist of Origin, 1951-1971: an anthology, edited by Corman.

The letters are arranged chronologically.

Biographical / historical:

Cid Corman was born on June 29, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Tufts University in 1945. He did graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood Prize for poetry in 1947, and also at the University of North Carolina. In 1948, Corman returned to Boston where he started a radio program on WMEX. During this program the works of writers were read without commercial interruption.

He founded the poetry magazine Origin and Origin Press in 1951, featuring the works of Robert Duncan and Denise Levertov, among others. Corman was known for helping other poets get their works published through Origin Press and was an influential figure among the Beat and Black Mountain poets. In 1958, Corman moved to Kyoto, Japan where he continued his work with Origin Press. The following year, Gary Snyder's first book, Riprap, was published, printed in Kyoto by Corman and distributed through City Lights Books.

Corman was a prolific poet himself and his works include: The Precious (1955) Sun rock man (1970), So Far (1973), For the Asking (1976), Identities (1981),And the Word (1987),How Now: Poems (1995), and For Crying Out Loud (2002). He also translated the works of the Japanese poets Matsuo Basho and Shimpei Kusano.

Corman passed away on March 12, 2004, in Kyoto, Japan.

Frank Samperi (1933-1991), also a poet, was the author of Lumen gloriae; poems (1974), The prefiguration; poems (1971), Quadrifariam; poems (1973).

Source:

"Sidney Corman Obituary Notice," in Contemporary Authors, v. 225. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2004.

Processing information:

Sara Gunasekara processed these papers and created and encoded this finding aid.

Physical location:
Researchers should contact Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17, of the U.S. Code. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Cid Corman Letters to Frank Samperi, MC013, Department of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library
100 NW Quad
Davis, CA 95616-5292, US
Contact:
(530) 752-1621
speccoll@ucdavis.edu
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